By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MARTIN, Tenn. – A baseball game that looked like a track meet and ended with a football score went in favor of the home team Saturday afternoon, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team fell to in-state rival UT Martin in Ohio Valley Conference play, 24-17.
Competing at Skyhawk Baseball Field, the Skyhawks (9-25, 2-12) answered an early salvo from the purple and gold and just kept applying the pressure the remainder of the day. Despite Tech's second straight huge performance with the bats, UT Martin turned in one of its top offensive showings in program history to even the series.
The Golden Eagles (21-15, 5-6) cranked out six more home runs after blasting six on Friday, collecting a pair in the second. Right fielder Ryan Guardino smashed a two-run jack to left field to give Tech a 2-0 lead, his third round-tripper of the series.
Two batters later, second baseman Noah Hattier delivered his first tank of the season, clearing the wall in left field for two more runs. One more score in the frame gave the purple and gold a 5-0 advantage.
The Skyhawks responded with eight runs in the bottom of the frame, taking the lead for good. The Golden Eagles pulled within in a run in the third, with catcher Hayden Gilliland leading things off with a solo pump to center field, his third dinger of the year.
Guardino made it back-to-back games with multiple bombs, smoking a solo job to center field. UT Martin answered right back, scoring three more times to increase the lead to four.
Tech attempted to fight back again in the fourth, with Guardino making some school history. The slugger torched a two-run missile to right field for his third nuke of the day, tying the program's single-game record. The 11th Golden Eagle to homer three times in a game, he became the first since Cody Littlejohn did so on the final game of the 2021 campaign against SIUE. It also marked his 10th of the year and fifth of the series.
UT Martin delivered a huge shot to the scoreboard in the fourth, looking to blow things wide open with nine runs and a 20-9 lead. Tech refused to give in, working hard to get right back into the contest.
In the fifth, third baseman Gabe Lacy ripped an RBI single through the left side, setting up left fielder Jason Hinchman for a two-run jack to left-center field. It represented his 17th of the year and 61st of his career, leaving him just one shy of tying both the program and OVC career home run record held by former Golden Eagles Zach Stephens (2012-14) and Kevin Strohschein (2016-19).
Catcher Will Long drove in another by getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Hattier brought one home on a fielder's choice on the next at-bat. Center fielder Austin Turner singled in one more before Lacy tacked on a pair with a single to center field.
All-in-all, Tech's eight runs in the frame pulled the team back to within three. UT Martin shut down the Golden Eagle offense the rest of the way while its own bats provided four more runs of insurance.
On the day, Guardino led Tech with a 4-for-6 day with five RBI and four runs scored. Shortstop Ed Johnson finished 3-for-6, as did Lacy, who drove in three. Eight of Tech's hitters in the original lineup tallied at least one hit.
The series finale is slated for a 1:00 p.m. CT start Sunday afternoon at Skyhawk Baseball Field.
File photo by Emily Armstrong
